Quadcast Ep. 18: Mental Health Entrepreneur on Creating Communities of Acceptance and Authenticity
On the Quadcast this week we speak with Jared Fenton, founder and Executive Director of the Reflect Organization, a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering college students to foster a culture of authenticity, self-love, and allyship on campus.
Fenton describes his organization’s work, mask phenomena like the “Penn Face,” and his focus on providing “One Caring Person” for college students nationwide. Of his organizations’ student gatherings, he says, “When we have thousands of students… coming together to take off the metaphorical masks of effortless perfection to connect with each other as their true selves, to support each other in being their true selves, and to work with each other to overcome challenges and thrive, we can create these little microcosms of what college campuses could look like if people were to be somewhat of this one caring person for each other.”
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Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
The Chronicle covered MCI’s recent survey on the Role of Faculty in Student Mental Health, conducted in partnership with the BU School of Public Health, and the Healthy Minds Network. The article highlighted the findings that nearly eight out of 10 professors reported having a one-on-one conversation with a student about mental health during the last year, but that less than 30% of faculty members said they have received training from their institutions to have such discussions. The Chronicle also noted that nearly 70% said they would welcome training on student mental health.
The New York Times showcases both the grief and losses as well as the positive experiences and insights college students experienced by the year’s end. Students interviewed across the country said they “would not miss the regimen of virus testing and quarantining, the classes on Zoom, the zero tolerance for straying from prescribed rules, or the distance they felt from one another.” Some students said the pandemic became a time of self-discovery and increased academic performance due to fewer distractions. Others discuss missing out on social connection and losing a safe space on campus, returning to difficult home lives.
The newly released report from the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, #RealCollege2021: Basic Needs Insecurity Among Texas College Students During the Ongoing Pandemic, explored the impact of COVID-19 on Texas college students including employment, enrollment, mental health and basic needs. According to the report, 33% experienced anxiety. Similar numbers experienced depression. The research shows significant disparities in anxiety and depression. Over two in five Indigenous students surveyed faced mental health challenges. In Diverse Education, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, president of Amarillo College said, “We have so much work to do to ensure our students of color and LGBTQIA students are safe and comfortable, seeking the supports we offer and have to find ways to deliver those supports without requiring students to take the psychological and/or physical risks to seeking help.”
Other News
NBC News reports that mental health professionals are concerned about the long-term impacts of the pandemic, especially on depression and anxiety. “Our research has shown an increase in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and post-traumatic stress symptoms,” said Catherine Ettman, director of strategic development in the dean’s office at Boston University School of Public Health and a doctoral student at Brown University School of Public Health.
The Baltimore Sun reports that this fall, Johns Hopkins University plans to begin sending mental health providers along with campus security on calls for students who may be experiencing a crisis. “It became clear that many of the calls being addressed by campus safety and security could be more effectively and appropriately handled by behavioral health clinicians,” said Ronald J. Daniels, the university president in a message to the campus community.
GPB News reports that Georgia college graduates are looking forward after enduring this past year’s pandemic struggles. Georgia state graduates are hopeful for the pandemic’s end, and more employers are looking to hire recent graduates.
A student group at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association is leading a mental health campaign addressing the impact of the recent hate crimes targeting the Asian American community. Jenny Nguyen, vice president of APAMSA at OUWB, said the campaign is important because “as someone who grew up in an Asian household, mental health and illness isn’t really talked about.”
AZ Central covers the “Dam Worth It” student athlete mental health awareness campaign started by two Oregon State University students. The organization received a grant from the Pac-12 in 2018 to bring the campaign to other institutions; versions have since been adopted at UCLA, Fresno State and Washington State.
NPR highlights the mental health crisis among children ages 12-17. Emergency department visits by children in mental health crises went up significantly during the pandemic, which psychiatrist Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite said is indicative of what she is seeing in her practice.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
According to a new survey released by the American Council on Education, “four in ten Americans believe international students are displacing domestic students in college classrooms.” Survey respondents “feared international students might have motives in coming here beyond earning a degree – to steal American innovation and intellectual property.” New international student enrollment declined by 43% during the pandemic due to visa processing halts and travel restrictions. Still, the majority of respondents had positive attitudes toward international students, and “Americans are more likely this year than four years ago to say international students enriched U.S. students’ college experience and the U.S. economy.”
A new report conducted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that billions are lost due to inequities in higher education. An initial investment of $3.97 trillion would be needed to diminish racial and socioeconomic gaps for U.S. college degree completion. However, after the investment, the United States could gain $956 billion per year “in increased tax revenues and GDP and cost savings on social assistance programs.” The analysis found that if the bottom 40% of earners received college degrees at the same rate of the top 60% and higher education rates were equal across all racial groups, the United States would benefit financially from increased tax revenue, better wages, lower incarceration rates, better health outcomes, public health benefits, and increased public assistance programs.
A new report by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics offered a set of recommendations for institutions and college athletic directors to address the lack of diversity in their departments and barriers to athletes of color. The report suggests that leaders and administrators of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) provide more resources for college preparation programs for Black athletes and work towards diminishing academic gaps for students who attended underfunded high schools. According to the report, approximately “one-fifth of the Division I teams that competed in the 2021 men’s basketball tournament had a gap of 30 percent or more between the graduation rates of their white and Black athletes.”
In a new wave of news, state university systems and entrance exams for college admissions are changing. After settling in a lawsuit, the University of California system announced on Friday that its system of ten schools will no longer take SAT and ACT scores into account for admissions decisions and scholarships. The settlement to no longer use entrance exams will continue until at least 2025. The University System of Georgia, however, will be reinstating its ACT and SAT requirement after suspending its requirement during the pandemic. Illinois’ public colleges will adopt test-optional policies for undergraduate students under a new bill.
Washington and Lee University will announce in June whether it will change its name, which honors Robert E. Lee, a Confederate commander. In recent years, the university has made efforts to increase diversity efforts. In July of 2020, 188 to 51 faculty voted to change the name.
Higher Ed Dive reports on the signoff from a federal judge on a settlement agreement reached between the state of Maryland and its four HBCUs. Under the agreement, which ends a 15-year battle, the state will provide $577 million to those institutions. Advocates sued MD in 2006 alleging that the state had underfunded its HBCUs for years.
Bucknell University is investigating a “horrific” incident of harassment last week that targeted LGBTQ students. In a letter, the university said a group of male students tried to break into an affinity house for LGBTQ students, and “harassed and intimidated” residents who reported being “terrified and traumatized by the episode.” Tyler Luong, a junior and resident assistant, said “someone texted a house group chat thread warning residents to lock their windows and doors.” When he rushed upstairs to a bathroom, residents were holding a window closed as people outside yelled “Let us in!” A witness “saw a man urinating on the front porch. Others banged on a metal flagpole outside and pounded on the front door, screaming ‘Let us in, this is our house,” a witness said. One student said that about eight people climbed to the roof.” When officers responded, Mr. Luong said “The officers did not speak to him or other residents, and instead spoke with the remaining intruders after the majority fled, “shaking hands with them, reminiscing about what it felt like to be a handsome young man with hair in college.”
Bates College students are denouncing their school for its response to anti-Israel graffiti on campus, which the administration referred to the police. The graffiti included phrases like “Stop ethnic cleansing,” “Israel is killing innocent people” and expletives written in chalk. Fourteen student groups are expressing their support for Palestine, calling the police investigation “retaliation against human rights activism.”
Sexual Assault and Title IX
The Chronicle explores whether it is possible to achieve a Title IX system and disciplinary processes around campus sexual assault allegations that is “fair.” Over the past 15 years, a “movement against campus sexual assault has reshaped college policies, ignited an influential conversation about sex and consent, and helped foster new societal norms” the article states. But debates about addressing campus sexual assault have become politicized. Increasingly, accused students are winning cases against schools that have found them culpable in court and colleges fear lawsuits no matter which outcome they reach in a particular case.
College Affordability
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Education announced that Pell Grant recipients could be eligible for a monthly internet discount of up to $50 to $75. Through the newly launched $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, established as part of President Biden’s major $2 trillion coronavirus relief legislation, households can receive monthly discounts on broadband service and up to $100 towards internet-connected devices such as laptops and tablets. College students are eligible for the discount if they were Pell Grant recipients for the 2020-2021 academic year.
In Diverse Education, Dr. Peter Hanson, the director of the Grinnell College National Poll and associate professor of political science at Grinnell College and Georgia Rawhouser-Mylet, a Grinnell student in the Class of 2021, write that President Biden’s dismissal of debt forgiveness puts him at odds with public opinion. According to a recent Grinnell College National Poll, over 66% of Americans favored some form of loan forgiveness. “By not taking on the issue of loans, Biden’s plan leaves recent graduates saddled with debt that they may carry for decades,” they write.
Student Success
A new paper released by the American Educational Research Journal reveals that many public research universities recruit from private, predominately white, out-of-state high schools. The conclusion of the study states: “Results reveal socioeconomic, racial, and geographic disparities in recruiting patterns. In particular, most universities made more out-of-state than in-state visits, and out-of-state visits systematically targeted affluent, predominately white localities.”
According to the Hechinger Report, Southern New Hampshire University, one of the largest universities with an enrollment of approximately 150,000 students (the majority of which are online), is ending its policy to withhold transcripts based on unpaid balances. The long-standing practice of blocking credits and degrees from unpaid bills is commonly implemented by nearly all higher education institutions. It affects an estimated number of 6.6 million Americans, according to consulting firm Ithaka S+R. Low-income students are disproportionately impacted by the policy. The Massachusetts legislature is looking to change that by allowing students to have ownership of their transcripts if they owe money to a public university or college.
Wellness
Brown University’s new health and wellness center and residence hall welcomes 114 undergraduate students for the summer term. By next fall, the building will host programming dedicated to students’ physical and emotional well-being and create space for a cohort of over 162 students “who share a deep commitment to sustaining healthy lifestyles and promoting health in the Brown community and beyond.”
Coronavirus: Safety and Reopening
Colleges that are not mandating vaccines are encouraging students and employees to voluntarily get vaccinated against COVID-19 by promising a return to a more normal campus life. At West Virginia University, administration promises that if 50-percent of the campus is vaccinated, concerts, plays, and the rec center can open at 50-percent capacity. Saad B. Omer, a professor of infectious diseases at Yale University, says “Colleges should consider concrete predictions about their local regions in coming up with vaccination thresholds. … It shouldn’t be a gut feeling. It should be based on some computations and it should be based on rational, systemic assumptions.”
The New York Times reports on Colorado Mesa University’s innovative virus tracking system. Geneticist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Dr. Pardis Sabeti, says, “Colorado Mesa has the most sophisticated system in the country to track outbreaks.” In a partnership between C.M.U and the Broad Institute, C.M.U’s 10,000 student body campus has become an epidemiological laboratory, “experimenting with creative approaches to pandemic management.” The tools developed throughout the study could help manage future outbreaks globally. Their symptom and contact-tracing data apps “can be used by schools, companies, local governments and other organizations around the world to respond to outbreaks of infectious disease.”
According to AP News, a federal judge declined to dismiss two lawsuits against the University of Delaware filed by current and former students against the school. The students argue they are entitled to reimbursements for services they did not receive when schools shut down in 2020. The judge ruled that they may not be entitled to tuition reimbursement, but can pursue claims for student fees.
